benefit ought to feel the burthen too and makes the quantity of each mans Estate the Rule whereby this Burthen is to be equally à pportioned upon each Person In this great Cà se therefore the Question was not Whether the sole and supream Power of the Militia and of all Forces ç. belong to the King or not otherwise how should he perform this great Trust Therefore says Brâ—cton that à ntient Author There are two things necessary in a King LAWS and ARMS whereby he may rightly govern the Times both of Peace and War Nor was the Question Vpon whom the burthen of it should be laid for Allegiance binds every Subject to yeild his best Assistance both of Counsel and Aid for the common Defence These things were without Controversy agreed on both hands but the only Question was concerning the Manner how the Charge of the Defence ought to be levyed Whether by the Kings Writ or by common consent Hereby therefore we may see that by the Law of England the sole and supream Power Government and Dispose of the Militia c. is and ever was the Kings undoubted Right and that these Statutes above-mentioned do but declare the antient Law in that behalf This Commission therefore is a lawful Commission being founded upon the antient and standing Laws of the Realm yea it is not only lawful but necessary forasmuch as it is incumbent upon their Majesties both in Honour and by their Oath to provide for the safety of their People on every side The Designation or Appointment of this or that particular Person to be their Majesties Lieutenant being qualified according to Law is by the Law left to their Majesties Wisdom and Pleasure Consider we then that these things being so our Disobedience to this Commission is utterly inexcusable and much more our Contempt 4 thly It is to be considered also That when their present Majesties came to the Throne the Militia and all Forces by Sea and Land and all Forts and places of Strength in Connecticut were in their Majesties hands and possession it is good for us to bethink us Who took them out of their Majestìes hands or how it came to pass that they are not now in their Majesties hands if it be so indeed or who will adventure to give account of that matter Is it not more Wisdom for us to make sure of a Pardon for what is past than to go on to multiply and aggravate our Presumptions 5 thly Put the case that their Majesties had granted such a Commission to us should we not have expected and compelled Obedience to it Yea no doubt then it had been a very lawful and good Commission and necessary to be obeyed We that can make so much of a bare silent Permission or Sufferà nce of our Government and make so much of the King 's là te Letter which yet takes not so much as the least Notice of any of us and can be so severe and sharp upon any disacknowledgement of our disputable Authority how brag peremptory should we have been if this Commission in terminis had been given to us Certainly Fire and Faggot or the Noose of an Halter had been good enough for any one that should have offered to oppose it or refuse Obedience to it And how should we have traduced them as Enemies and Rebels to King William and Queen Mary Let us then turn the Scale We know the Golden Rule Whatsoever ye would that others should do to you do you the same to them It is their Majesties Commission no less than if it had been directed to ourselves 6 thly How greedily did we catch at the King's Letter of the 3d of March last although their Majesty doth therein take no Notice of our Corporation or any particular Person in it but directs it only in general thus To such as for the time being take care for the preservation of the Peace c. in our Collony of Connecticut And how readily did we comply with it And why Why it will be said it is his Majesties Command his Majesties pleasure we must obey the King Consider then This Commission is their Majesties Command also this is their Royal Pleasure In this case Rex praecipit Lex precipit The King commands and the Law commands is all one And is not this lawful Command as good as that Is not the great Seal as effectual à s the little Seal But it may be thought that Letter put a staff into our hands in a sinister manner to serve our selves of our fellow Subjects but this Commission takes it out again and therefore we willingly complyed with that but will oppose this Possibly some may have cause to thank their Majesties for that But if that be the case where is our Obedience Genuine Obedience is Universal 7 thly Consider we the vile Ingratitude of this our ill behaviour towards their Majesties and their Lieutenant It is well known to the World what their Majesties have done and how they have exposed themselves for the benefit of the whole English Nation of which we are a part for the securing of all their Rights civil and sacred their Religion Lives Liberty and Property and the continual and unspeakable Labour and Hazards which his sacred Majesty condescends from Year to Year to undergo for that end Whereby their Majesties have given abundant Evidence of their good affection to their Subjects and that they will take nothing from us which is our Right nor deny us any thing which their Royal Wisdom shall see to be good for us but are willing to purchase it for us at a dear Rate Yea and this very Commission is a singular Instance of their tender care for our Defence and Safety in this perilous time of War as is manifest from the Commission it self And do we thus requite their Majesties O foolish we and unwise Who hath bewitched us There is nothing so hateful and provoking as Ingratitude Truly we may do well to remember Jotham's Parable Judg. 9. and the applicà tion of it and apply it to our selves Hearken to me sayes he that God may hearken to you c. If you have dealt well with Jerubbaal c. and have done to him according to the deserving of his Hands for he fought for you and adventured his Life far and delivered you c. and you are risen up against him this day c. Have we done to their Majesties according to the deserving of their Hands Shall we requite Love with Hatreds Tender Bowels with Malignity For what else can our Behaviour signifie but a malignant Spirit and inveterate Hatred against the King as King and who ever comes from him as such We have sufficiently declared our Affections to the King and what we should have done if we had him ìn our hands we should soon rid the World of Kings if we had them in our Power Remember Hazael Is thy Servant a Dog says he that he should do this great i. e. this Abominable thing Yea
but when Temptation and Opportunity met together he did it notwithstanding and verily so should we 8 thly Let us look through all their Majesties Realms and Dominions and see where we can find any such President or Example We are too apt to admire our selves and to bless God that we are not as this Publican But who so Ungrateful who so Disobedient as we Their Majaesties may look upon themselves to be very Unhappily and Unequally yoked as to us The best of Princes with the worst of Subjects 9 thly Consider we the Time Is this a time for us to be Refractory and Disobedient to our Prince Between four and five Years ago when there was no War with France we would needs have made the King and and the World believe That we were in continual danger of our Lives by reason of the Natives being at War with us with whom we said we had just fears of our Neighbouring French to joyn and therefore not receiving Orders or Directions what Methods to take for our Security we were necessitated to put our selves into some form of Government And yet now there hath been open and strong Wà r with France and with the French in all parts above this three Years and that attended with not a few or small Difficulties à nd Disappointments and now that their Majesties have given their Orders and Directions whà t Methods to take for our Security in this difficult and hazardous Time there is yet so little danger that we will not receive their Majesties Directions but spurn at their Commission scorn at their Lieûtenant and will yeild no Obedience What do we indeed intend to fall off to the French We had as good fall to the French as fall from our King and if we intend so to do let us speak out if not surely this is not a time to be Disobedient For how is it possible for any Prince to provide for the safety of his Subjects or to manage the weighty Affairs of War with effect and more especially at such a Distance if his Subjects will slight à nd disobey his Commissions or take upon themselves to wage War without or against them 10 thly We are now addressing their Majesties for their Favour so we say and to the end that we may recommend our selves to them as it seems their most Proud and Disobedient Subjects at this very time we disobey their Commission Can we think that Disobedience and Contempt âre the most likely way to obtain access and acceptance Is that the way to find favour or do we think that the King is afraid of us and we shall force him to comply with us Verily I doubt we shall tempt him and prove him Prayers and Pride Supplication and Rebellion do not sort well together 11 thly Our great Champion in whom we trusted to vindicate ûs and defend our Cause yeilds the Cause and leaves us in the Lurch Our Goliah who defied all as Pigmies that durst appear against us the stone is sunk in his fore-head and he is fallen upon the Earth he is convinced in his Conscience and tells us with all the honesty and plainness that he can That he will not ruin himself and his Posterity That he will not Hang for any of us No doubt but whatever he hath don◠yet now he speaks as he thinks and shall we yet harden our selves shall we ruin our selves and our Posterity Believe it we shall find it hard kicking against the Pricks Therefore 12. Lastly Let us consider seriously the end and event of these things and what may reasonably follow thereupon The fools Eyes are in his Heels He can see nothing but what is past and repent when it is too late But Solomon tells us The wise mans Eyes are in his Head He looks before him The Prudent man fore-sees the Evil and hides himself but the simple pass on and are punished Prov. 22. 3. Therefore it is said That the Wise Man begins at the end and it were good for us to begin there too Let us consider it then What do we think will be the end of these strange Behaviours What good can we promise our selves 1 st Where the Word of a King is there is Power and in the Execution of his Regal Authority who may say to him what dost thou Eccles 8. 4. What Aspect then will these things have abroad in the world among those who know what a King is Such carriage would hardly have been expected from any part of New-England Friends will be ashamed Enemies will insult 2 dly What aspect do we think they will have at Home with the King and Council Surely their Majesties promised themselves better things from their Subjects in Connecticut 3 dly The Defence and safety of the Subject in all parts is their Majesties great Interest and Care and it is not easie for us to conceive how we prejudice their Majesties Interest frustrate their Intentions break their Designs defeat their Councils and obstruct their Service for the Defence of their People both here and else-where the very end of this Commission by our Disobedience The Commission takes no Notice of à ny former Military Commissions but that which was the last year given to Sir William Phips and that is expresly determined by the Publication of this So that by our Disobedience we are without Defence our selves and incapable of helping others And who knows whà t a Day much more a Quarter or Half a Year may bring forth We may desire that this Disobedience to our Prince should not be told in Gath nor spoken of in the Streets of Askelon but our desire is vain Thé Hittites dwell in the Land and observe our Actions The Report of it will sooner fly to Canada and it may be to France too than some of us could wish and what Inferences will there be made and Resolutions taken thereupon is not impossible to guess They may conclude they have Connecticut to Friend at least in a posture of Neutrality which will animate them not a little The Mohaques also and other Nations of Indians will soon have the News of it if they have it not already and who knows but it may give them occasion to go over to the French the effects whereof may be such as are not to be desired unless we intend to follow them But if none of these should be yet our Behaviour in this matter renders their Majesties and their great Officers vile contemptible and our selves base in the sight of the very Heathen 4 thly Is not their Majesties Commission under the great Seal of England sufficent to authorize their Majesties Lieutenant in Connecticut if it be not what else can do it The World is at an end there is no more to be done in a fair way But if it be why do we not submit to it Verily if the King 's Broad Seal will not run to be obeyed in Connecticut we may justly expect that something else shall Are we so ignorant that we
SOME Seasonable Considerations For the good People of CONNECTICUT I Remember there was Advice given us in the Year 1689. when we were about to make our Revolution as 't is called and for ought I know it hà d been good for us thà t we had taken it But we are so unwilling to be à dvised and so ill affected to any that tell us the Truth that there is little Encourâgement for any to expose themselves in that kind for the future The Prophet sayes The Prudent shall keep Silence for it is an evil time And the greatest of Prophets hath said Cast not your Pearls before Swine lest they turn again and rent you But I would hope the case is not yet so desperate And I remember it is also said Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke him and not suffer sin upon him And methinks no reasonable Creature should look upon a Perswasion to Consideration as if it were evi Council or did proceed from ill Will Therefore I will adventure for my Country-men and Brethrens sake to make one Essay It was said of Old Consider take Advice and speak your Minds Temerity is always evil Consideration is always good but sometimes necessà ry It is requisite that we be always sober and considerate but especially when we have to do in things that immediately and deeply concern not our selves only but GOD and the KING too With relation to God it is said Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God Ecles 5. 2. With reference to the King Be not hasty to go out of his sight A Wise Mans Heart discerns both Time nnd Judgment Eccles 8. 3 5. With reference to our selves Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established Prov. 4. 26. Verily we have cause of Consideration He is a stranger in Connecticut that knows not what hath lately been done there Let us first reflect and see what we have done and then examine and consider it The last Year their Majesties gave a Commission of Lieutenancy to his Excellency Sir William Phips Kt. Captain General and Governour in chief of their said Majesties Province of the Massachusets in New-England whereby he was constituted their Majesties Lieut. and Commander in chief of the Militia c. in Connecticut But upon Notice hereof a General Assembly was cà lled and met and there it was resolved Not to submit to it nor to take any notice of Sir William Phips in that capacity Afterward at another General Assembly we resolve to address their Majesties forthwith and in the mean time request Sir William Phips thereupon to suspend the Execution of his Commission till we can have an Answer from their Mājesties Yet no Address is made to their Majesties as was pretended After which Sir William Phips making some further Demands in the Spring 1693. we promise to pay him some hundreds of Pounds and to take upon us thē Defence of thé upper Towns upon this River belonging to the Massachusets as if these things would satisfie their Majesties Commission This Year 1693. Their Majesties give a like Commission to his Excellency Benjamin Fletcher Captain General and Governour in chief of their Majesties Province of New-York c. whereby he is constituted their Majesties Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia and of all Forces by Seà and Land in their Majesties Collony of Connecticut and of all Forts and places of Strength within the same But upon Notice hereof the Free-men and Souldiers in the several Towns are convened to see how they stand affected and what they will contribute towards addressing their Majesties in this behalf A General Assembly also is called and meets and there it is resolved Forth-with to send an Agent to England to intreat their Majesties favour in this and other respècts also to levy a Tax of a penny in the Pound in Mony upon all the People in the Collony to defray the charge of it and that whatever more it amounts to shall be paid out of the publick Treasury and lastly That if any such Commission do come in the the mean time they will not submit to it but oppose it till they have an Answer from their Majesties By these Methods the Free-men of the Corporation and as many of the People as will fall in with them are ensnared and strongly pre-engaged to make Opposition against their Majesties Commission Insomuch that one Jeers another will spend his Blood to keep off his Excellency another will scruple no more to shoot him than to shoot a Deer and can very well find in his heart to spend a brace of Bullets upon him beside other Flouts At length the Commission arrives and comes to his Excellency's hands In pursuance thereof he speedily takes a Journey to Hartford in the time of our General Assembly held at Hartford October 12. 1693. and causes his Commission to be publickly reà d in the saîd General Assembly and in their Majesties Namé requires and presses Obedience to it and gives us all reasonable satisfaction and encouragement for that end In particular to prevent Mistakes and in order to a good accomodation his Excellency leaves his Memorial of his Expectation with us in Writing desiring our Answer to it in Writing and then further assures us That he hath neither power nor intent to invade our civil Liberties That in case of our Submission he would commissionate all that were in Commission before and take our advice for the supply of vacant places and partiçularly tenders a Commission to oûr Governor for the command of all the Militia in the Collony only in subordination to this Their Majesties Commission But what is the Effect of all Why the Deputies divers of them at least being so prépared as aforesaid are resolved before hand and have determined the Question before the Court meets God hath given them such a Priviledge and therefore if their Majesties put such things upon them they must oppose and hold their own they are bound in Conscience to do it When his Excellency comes to the General Assembly to publish his Commission Order is given to the Halberteérs To admit none but his Excellency and his Retinue as if it were not meet that their Majesties Commission should be known to the People who therefore were kept back and not admitted without hot bickering nor till after great part of the Commission was read and no marvel the General Assembly themselves not over-willingly give the Commission the hearing take no great Notice of his Excellency wave the business would bring him to composition as they had done by Sir William Phips and will not yeild Obedience to the Commission but instead thereof send Orders to such as command the Forts to prevent their Seisure and it seems if the common fame be true it is their Opinion That their Majesties have nothing to do with us Hereupon some will not take Commissions
do not know That to levy War against the King is High-Treason both by the Common Statute Law or That an actual Rebellion or Insurrection is a levying of War against the King That a gathering of Force for the Removal of Counsellors altering of Laws or the like though with pretence of Reformation yet being without Warrant from the King is a levyiug of War against the King or that the holding of a Fort or Castle by force of Arms against the King and his Power is a levying of War against the King What Construction then do we think it will have if we shall be found to rise in Arms against the King's Lieutenant publishing his Commission and commanding Obedience to it and by Force and Arms to with-hold the Militia and all Forces by Sea and Land and all Forts and places of Strength in a whole Collony or Province from the King against his plain Commission published under the great Seà l Do we not know That an Ambassadour from a Ferreign Prince though an Enemy ought to have safe Conduct in all the King's Dominions and 't is against the Law of Nations to offer him any Violence or Indignity The Turks themselves would abominate that Or can we be ignorant of this That Disobedience and Contempt offered to the Kings Ministers redounds and is done to the King himself Is it not a sure Rule in Humane as well as Divine Things He that despises me despises him that sent me What face then will our Behaviour hà ve when it shall appear that our own Kings Lieutenant cannot come among us to execute their Majesties Command bût beside other vile Indignities ùnfit to be named he is in danger of his very Life Such as assert their Allegiance and declare their Submission run the same hazard and others who are willing to serve their Majesties dà re not take Commissions for fear of being destroyed And by this means his Excellency Returns without effecting his Business and with as much Disgrace as we can well cast upon him Yea if any man advise or move another to take a Commission from their Majesties Lieutenant it is accounted a Wicked thing and he an henïous Offender Will this be acceptable News to their Majesties Or will they not rather resent it as David did that Reproach of his Messengers by Hanun Verily a Contempt and Abuse from Subjects is a thousand times worse than from Aliens Some may imagine they hà ve found a neat way to defeat the Kings Commission They will not take Commissions from his Lieutenant themselves but will also deter others that they shall not dare to do it and think it a Project worthy to be gloryed in Truly we have many wayes made it evident enough what low thoughts we have of his Majesty But what do we think he is to be put off in this manner by our scurvey silly little Tricks or do we think that our Obedience is an Arbitrary thing and the King must be beholding to us for it or that he is made up all of Grace and hath nothing of Justice in him If so we do doubtless we shall find our selves mistaken and that he is like Christ whom he serves both a Lamb and a Lyon I believe he will decide the Controversie and make us know who is King before he hath done with us For how can it consist with his Crown and Dignity or with the safety of his Government to pass by such high handed and mischievous Offences without suitable Annimadversion We very much forget Solomon's Advice as if we had never read it I counsel thee says he to keep the Kings Commandment and that in regard of the Oath of God Be not hasty to go out of his sight Stand not in an evil thing for he doth whatsoever pleases him Where the Word of a King is there is Power and who may say to him what dost thou Whoso keeps the Commandment shall feel no evil thing Eccles 8. 2 3 4 5. Yea but the Kings Wrath is as the roaring of a Lyon and as Messengers of Death but his Favour is as the Dew upon the Grass Prov. 19. 12. There is Life in the one but Death in the other We forget also the Parable of the Citizens that hated their Lord and woûld not have him to reign over them Those mine Enemies says he that would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me It is but a Comparison taken from things reasonable among men And how easie a thing is it for their Majesties more ways than one to make ns weary of our Rebellion What if their Majesties should hereupon fetch over whom they see cause to England and there proceed against them according to their Demerits Shall we not hereby ruin our selves and our Posterity Or what if they should declare us Rebels and put us out of their Protection and prohibit all their Subjects any Commerce with us For how can we expect that their Majesties should protect us who scorn to be governed and protected by them but by our Unruliness break their Measures in the very point of Protection Or if they should reduce us to our Obedience by Force and keep us under the awe of a strong Garrison and lay the Charge of it upon us Or if they should but lay a sore heavy Fine upon us If they should do any of these or the like what shall we do with our selves Verily we are in their Majesties hands and it is a new sort of Grace if they do nothing Let all good Subjects then consider and as they would deliver themselves from the common Guilt so let them distinguish themselves and make haste to yeild their due Obedience and as for the rest we may say Father forgive them they know not what they do But against all this divers things are objected let us consider them also 1 Objection The Militia is very well disposed of already King Charles the second of happy Memory did by his Charter for himself and his Successors grant it to us and our Successors in the Year 1662. Answ To this I answer divers things 1 st We overween our Charter in more things than one to the no little Prejudice both of King and Subjects Modesty might incline us to think that the King understands our Charter and how well the Militia was thereby disposed of at least as well as we do and he knows what is his own Right and our Right much better than we Their Majesties have given us no cause to suspect that they will take any thing from us that doth of right belong to us But to let other things pass let us here consider That the Charter never granted us a standing Militia but only a Lisence upon occasion of Invasion or the like to array men c. for our special Defence and safety in such case The Charter never gave us Power to raise and send men à broad for the Defence and Aid of others The King's Letter of the